A Starting Point
by CK143
Summary: A day at the Western Air Temple changes Katara's view on Zuko.


My first fic. :3

(I'm sorry if my English is bad, it's not my first language T_T)

**Disclaimer: **Avatar: Last Airbender and its characters doesn't belong to me.

* * *

Early morning at the air temple, Katara had recently woken up from her slumber and was surveying the ceiling. It was covered with a few cobwebs and she felt disgusted by it. She sighed, sat up and looked at her surroundings. The room looked cold and dusty, and the only furniture in there was a cabinet, a small table and her bed. The only thing that made the room looked amazing was the view of the canyon from her window. It was simply breathtaking, and she made a note to herself that after the war is over, she will ask Aang if he can take her back here with her dad. The thought of Aang brought back some memories and especially the one where he suddenly kissed her before he left to face the Fire Lord. It made her confused, she likes Aang as a friend and maybe even as a brother but never as someone she wants to spend her life with. Katara decided to ignore this and went to the bathroom to wash up.

The temple was huge and the hallways were lined with gigantic statues of air nomads. The girls were staying at one of the temples while the boys were on the temple they first landed on. She stopped by Toph's room and took a peak, she saw Toph sprawled on her bed and smiled a bit before closing the door. Katara continued her way to the bathroom and after finishing her business, she went straight to the kitchen.

Like all the other rooms, it was dirty and pieces of broken plates were scattered on some parts of the room. It was still early so she started to clean the place up. She started with sweeping the floors, then dusting the counters and lastly washing the remaining plates and bowls. It was hard work but Katara being the "mother" of the group was easy for her and the fact that before she joined Aang in his adventures she was already the one taking care of her father and Sokka and their home at the Southern Water Tribe. After cleaning up, she went out into the woods to find some food.

While walking around the woods she came across a river and saw some fishes. Setting down her satchel and water skin, she started to undress until she was only in her undergarments. Stepping into the river, she shivered at first but for a while got used to the temperature. Being the skilled waterbender she is, in a matter of seconds she got all the fishes around her and a few minutes later she was all dressed and was headed back for the temple with her catch. As Katara heads for the temple, she thought of a certain firebender who made her blood boil.

Zuko, the boy who had chased the avatar and his friends ever since, was now their "ally". Tch. The thought of it made Katara sick. She doesn't believe the whole "act" of Zuko of being regretful of everything he had done, that he had changed and that he will help Aang in mastering his firebending and help defeat Fire lord Ozai. Katara told herself that everything he said were lies and that he will strike at any moment he gets a chance. The thought of it made her fasten her pace when suddenly she saw someone through the trees. She was unsure of who it was, so she decided to move closer quietly.

Hiding behind a tree, Katara saw the boy she had been despising about. Zuko was on the ground, meditating, while forming two small steady flames in each hand. She noticed how tranquil the boy can look. Whenever she saw him, he always had that enraged look, except for the time when they were both trapped inside a cave. Seeing him now, he was different from the boy she knew, and maybe, just maybe, without that scar on his face, he would look somehow attractive. Having fair skin and those deep golden eyes, Katara was sure that Zuko was indeed gonna be attractive. Woah, did she just thought about that? Distracted by her thoughts, Katara just noticed Zuko was now standing up and shirtless, and what she saw made her jaw drop.

Zuko has a hard, lean frame with well-toned muscles that must have been built up with all those firebending. Katara tried to tear her gaze away from the pale outline of his magnificent form but it was no use. Zuko was in a fighting stance and seconds later, he was punching and kicking out flames. Katara, who was still a bit terrified of flames, wasn't afraid but amazed at what was happening in front of her. Ever since Zuko and Aang returned from the Sun Warrior ruins, she noticed how their firebending improve every day, especially Zuko's. After awhile, Zuko was done with his practice and was panting heavily while beads of sweat were trickling down his body.

With his back facing her, Katara took this chance to leave quietly. As she turned around, she stepped on a branch, which startled Zuko and faced the direction where Katara was hiding.

"Who's there?"

…

"Show yourself or I'll-"

"Calm down, it's just me." Katara went out from her hiding place. She knew she was in big trouble when she saw those eyes of Zuko.

"What are you doing here?"

"I think I should be the one asking questions over here."

"Yeah right, says the girl who was spying on me."

"I wasn't spying on you!" How dare him! Well she did looked at with him without him knowing she was there, but still, she was not going to lose this argument. "For your information, I was just passing by when I saw you meditating from afar."

"Yeah, and that was like fifteen minutes ago, so in short, you were spying on me for fifteen minutes."

Oh crap.

"Well-, I-, You-, Argh! Don't you dare talk to me!" And just like that, she left.

_Sigh, girls._

Zuko was about to go back to his training when he spotted something beneath the tree.

* * *

That jerk.

While mentally cursing Zuko, Katara was preparing all the kitchenware she would be using. _Alright, I got everything I need, now for the- wait, where is it?_ Katara looked around the kitchen, but her satchel wasn't there. _I know I brought it back with me, but where is it?_ She looked under the counters when someone spoke up. "Looking for this?"

Startled, she hit her head on the table. Knowing that voice, she mentally cursed him, got up and glared at the boy in front of her. Zuko was leaning on the counter, while holding Katara's satchel.

"Where did you get that?"

"You left it back at the forest."

"Well, now that you have delivered it back, you can leave." She snatched the satchel from Zuko and returned to her work.

Zuko on the other hand sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Is that the thanks I get for returning your satchel?"

"Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners? Thank you kind sir for bringing back my satchel, now go away."

Katara started to wash the fishes and place it on a plate, when suddenly, Zuko was beside her. "I'll help."

Before Katara can say anything, he took one of the fish and started slicing it. For a prince of the Fire nation, Katara noticed that he was good. He knew what to do and what part of the fish should be removed.

"You're good. Where did you learn how to do that?"

"When you're traveling, and when you have an uncle like mine, you'll learn a lot of things."

"Ohhh."

They talked for a while and after that, Zuko went to the fireplace to start a fire while Katara added the ingredients to the pot in front of her. Zuko went back and noticed that Katara was making something unfamiliar to him. "What are you making anyway?"

"It's a special stew back at the Southern Water Tribe. I thought that we can try something different for a while."

Adding the last ingredient, Katara carried the pot over to the fireplace and placed it over the fire. There was an awkward silence in the air until Zuko spoke up. "Well, I'm going back to my room. Later."

"Oh, ok."

Zuko left, leaving Katara staring at the door. For some reason, the room felt cold when the firebender left. No pun intended. Sighing, she took a ladle from a cabinet and stirred the stew. A few minutes later the stew was boiling, Katara lifted the lid and the smell of the stew hit her nose. From the looks of it, it was ready and Katara grabbed a spoon, took some and tasted it. The taste reminded her of home and suddenly a thought hit her. Putting out the fire, she quickly grabbed a bowl, a spoon and a tray, she ladled some stew into the bowl and went her way.

She carried the tray all the way to Zuko's room, when she had arrived, she knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

"Come in."

She opened the door and went in to see Zuko sitting on his bed with a confused look on his face. "I thought that maybe you'd like to try the stew first since you did help me."

"Oh, um, thanks."

Katara went to sit on the bed with Zuko and gave the tray to him. The latter took it, placed it on his lap and tasted the stew. It was delicious. It reminded him of the the stew his mother used to make for him and Azula when they were kids. "It's really great. You really know how to cook Katara. It tasted like my mother's cooking"

At Zuko's words, Katara blushed a bit. _Did it really taste that good?_ Katara thought. "I-I'm glad you like it."

The two of them talked about one another while Zuko ate the stew. Moments later, Katara was holding the tray with an empty bowl.

"Well, I need go now." She stood up, walked to the door and went out. She started to head for the kitchen when Zuko called her. She turned around and faced him.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for everything."

She laughed. "It's just stew."

Zuko smiled "No, it's more than that." And he went back to his room.

Katara on the other hand thought about what Zuko said and for some reason she smiled, and went her way. She thought that the firebender wasn't bad at all and maybe, just maybe, it was gonna be the start of a beautiful relationship.


End file.
